Under the Tuscan sun(burn)

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Jet lag has finally sunk in, and I am exhausted. The last couple of nights Ive been waking up at 4-5 in the morning and have not been able to fall asleep. This morning was the same thing, so I got dressed, came online for awhile to pass the time, and eventually went back upstairs to wake up my roomate (Adele from Texas) to go to Siena. We walked to the bus stop and waited, and waited... and waited. Bus never showed, so we walked across the street to the train station and took the train there instead.

I absolutely LOVED Siena. I could spend days there, just exploring the cobblestone streets. Its quite different from Rome and Florence as the architecture is much more mideival and gothic. There are gargoyles everywhere, and statues all around town of werewolves and babies. It was a holiday today, which means most of the shops were closed, and the city center is surrounded by a brick wall, so there is no traffic allowed, and it was SO quiet. And just... unbelievably beautiful. We went to see the gothic cathedral and I was amazed when we got inside... Its the coolest thing ever. I cant wait to show everyone pictures. All the beams are painted in stripes and there are massive amounts of stars painted across the ceiling. Its almost like some crazy evil funhouse inside. My favorite place yet. After that we visted the museum, and then the crypt that was recently discovered underneath the cathedral in 1999 while they were doing restorations. After doing the tourist thing we had lunch (eggplant/tomoto/mozerella panini) and then walked back to the train station.

This evening we had dinner at the hostel and a drink up on the terrace to watch the sunset. Beautiful ! Tomorrow morning we are leaving for our wine tour in Chianti for the day, and then tomorrow night I board the train to Zurich. Not exactly sure what the plan is after that, but Im sure things will work themselves out. Turns out train tickets to Berlin are extremely expensive so not quite sure Im taking that route anymore. Adele from Texas is heading to Croatia and has invited me to come along, so I may make a detour... But we will see.

It is still surreal being here. Drinking a rum & coke on the terrace I suddenly thought... Holy fuck, Im watching a Tuscan sunset !

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